Interview : The Duloks

Written by Rachel Preece & Martin Spenger

Sunday, 23 August 2009 00:00

Matchless caught up with London band, the Duloks, backstage after their Atomic Cafe gig to talk to them about touring Germany, tea, sex and Motley Crue.

(Left to right - Mar, Mira and Abi)

Mira: Hallo, mein Name ist Mira. Ich bis am London. Is that right? No? No.

Martin: It seems as though you had a lot of fun in Germany – we’ve seen your tour photos.

All: Yes!

Abi: Hamburg was great; we hung out with the Beatles, that was cool.

Mira: This is the first tour where we’ve been relaxed and we’ve been able to enjoy the experience so it’s just been really lovely. We can take advantage of things like being in Hamburg, we had maybe five minutes and quickly ran into the Beatles street....

Mar: Oh yeah! I was like, “Look, we’ve never been to Hamburg.” Normally, we have just played gigs then left, but we had a little bit of time in Hamburg and I just yelled, “Let’s go to the Beatles’ street!” and Mila, our tour manager, wasn’t that keen.

Mira: I have to be honest, none of us really wanted to go, but Mar did.

Mar: And I’m not even a big Beatles fan, but come on –it’s Hamburg!

Mira: It’s just easier to say yes to Mar; it’s very hard to say no. So we agreed to go, and when we got there we were like, “Ahhhhhh! The Beatles!” It was pretty fun. We were only there five minutes, but we got some photos. We took a picture of the Funky Pussy Club – I would love to see a funky pussy.

Abi: I bet you say that to all the girls.

Mar: We had a couple of days off in Berlin, which was nice but we ended up doing a lot of errands.

Rachel: Why Germany in particular?

Mira: We were really lucky – we had some good contacts and fans who booked us to come and play shows, then Martin and Mila actually picked us up as German booking agents. The more we played, the more we had the opportunity to come back. When we did the album, we had the opportunity to come for a while, and this is the longest time we’ve spent in Germany. We always have a really great time with the promoters – they give us somewhere to sleep, they give us food, they’re really kind and it’s a much nicer experience than playing in London, where there are four bands a night and you don’t get paid and they’re really rude to you.

Mar: Germany’s also the biggest country in Europe, so I guess there are just more places to play here. We’ve played Spain – Barcelona and Madrid—and they were amazing, but there aren’t so many other places to go.

Mira: But we want to go everywhere; we love traveling.

Mar: We’re not picky! But we do like Germany.

Rachel: How long have you been in Germany this time?

Mira: Since last Friday.

Abi: This will be a ten-day tour, which is long for us.

Mira: I’m feeling tour fatigue.

Mar: We have day jobs, so we’ve taken holiday to come here. I’m from Canada, so when you do a tour it’s a big thing and you have to go for at least two weeks, because to drive anywhere takes so long. It’s the most amazing thing in the world being in a European band, because you can go to a city anywhere in Europe for a weekend, play a show and come back, and we’ve done that loads.

Rachel: Were you in a band in Canada, Mar?

Mar: Yeah, I was in a few. I was in the Ewoks which is what the Duloks is based on, and I was in a band called the Riff Randells. I toured across Canada when I was a teenager and it was hell, and now I think touring Europe is amazing because everywhere is so near, it’s great.

Rachel: How did you get together?

Abi: Oh no! I’m not able to answer this one.

Mira: The short story is: Mar was in a band called the Ewoks in Canada, and the Duloks is the name of the enemy of the Ewoks in the Ewok cartoon. So when she came to England she decided she wanted to be in a similar band to the Ewoks but in England. So she called it the Duloks and advertised for a singer with balls, and I refused to let anyone else be the singer. Her roommate played keyboard so we got together and jammed – and wherever Mar moved, we practiced in her bedrooms. But the keyboard players have changed. So we had Alice, then Amina, then Becca, Ken and Oliver and now Abi.

Mar: But all the main ones have been Alice, Amina and Abi. All As. And I think third time is the charm.

Mira: Abi adds to the experience. It’s normally Mar and I doing all the phone calls, organizing, emails and arranging, but Abi is really creative and she does artwork for us. She’s also booked her own shows so has experience in that too.

Abi: And that’s how we met – I was doing a solo thing, they were doing a Duloks thing, and we played the same night.

Mira: When we first saw her, Mar said that we should ask her to play in the Duloks, and I thought she was a bit scary. So I said, “No,” then we kind of got desperate. But then....Abi is awesome!

Abi: I remember the first time you met me you said I was scary, because you were scared about what I wrote on MySpace.

Mira: She says things like, “Hello sluts!”

Abi: That’s not scary!

Mira: I was like, “She doesn’t write very respectful MySpace messages Mar, I don’t think she should be in the band!”

Abi: This is why I compare Mira to my nan.

Mira: I am like Abi’s nan. When she drinks I worry, when she talks to girls I worry.

Rachel: How is everything going in the UK?

Mira: We’ll play gigs every so often, either in London or out of town.

Mar: We’re playing two festivals when we get back – Offset and Bestival.

Abi: And Bestival is sold out – it sold out second quickest of the UK festivals this year.

Mira: It’s fancy dress, so it’s perfect for us. We’re planning to do space aliens.

Mar: I’ll be all green – Mar the Martian.

Mira: And our album too! That was such a journey. We want to do these four albums. This one is about water and oceans, the next one will be about fire and burning and then we’ll have air and earth: the four elements. It’s really important for me to write when we are in London. Abi is a fucking brilliant musician and she gets us, so it’s easier for us to sit together and jam. Other keyboard players preferred just to practice, but that’s not very creative. So the mission? I really want to get the second album done, because the minute you have a new album, you can tour everywhere.

Mar: We’re doing a split seven inch with the band, You Say Party We Say Die. They covered, “Star Trail,” and we covered one of their songs, and then we’ve both done an original.

Mira: Rachel where are you from?

Rachel: Shrewsbury – do you know it?

Mira: Oh my God! The lovely little limestone cottages! I often went there on holiday when I was a kid. I’m from Reading, but my family are very, “Olde English,” so we’d always go to Devon or Cornwall or Shrewsbury on holiday.

Mar: Where’s Shrewsbury?

Rachel: Between Manchester and Birmingham. It’s very rural.

Mar: We’ve never been to Birmingham. It’s the second biggest city and I’ve never been. Not even as a tourist.

Rachel: Why did you come to England, Mar?

Mar: I’d lived in Vancouver my entire life and I wanted to do something different. When I came to London, I knew Mira and one other girl from the internet – and that is it. I had no friends and it was like being born again. I had lived in the centre of Vancouver, been in Canadian bands and worked for CBC radio, so I knew so many people across Canada in the music scene, and I was a huge scenester. So I went from being a big fish in a small pond to being nobody – and my confidence went “boom.” I’ve been in London for five years now and feel like, “Yeah, I know people now!” and I’m in a band.

Rachel: What are the plans for the future?

Mira: We’d like to go as many different places as possible. We’ve been played in loads of random places.

Abi: Our music was played in Burkina Faso in North Africa.

Mar: I got my royalties check recently – we’ve been played in Burkina Faso, Chile, Singapore – but never Canada. What the hell?! I’m Canadian!

Martin: I read about your interview where you mentioned your favourite artists – the Pet Shop Boys, Mar?

Mar: Oh they’re amazing! I saw them at Latitude last month and they were so cool. I used to have the most massive crush on Neil Tennant, even though I know he’s gay. And you read about when I mentioned my favourite German record? From Phillip Boa and the Voodoo Club?

Mira: I like the Scorpions, “Wind of Change.” I have to be honest, all my influences are from the late 70s, 80s – so I love Led Zeppelin, The Doors, cheese metal – Guns n’Roses, Iron Maiden, The Scorpions, Motley Crue. One thing we always do that warms with German audiences is a heavy metal medley, and they join in.

Mar: At the first gig I ever played, if you bought a Scorpions record to burn, you would get in free, because the band I was opening for got kicked off the Motley Crue tour by The Scorpions. The Scorpions hated the band so much that they said, “Either they go, or we go.”

Mira: I love Motley Crue, I wish we could support them.

Rachel: Tea or coffee?

All: Tea!

Mira: If I don’t get a cup of tea in the morning, I am so unhappy in my heart. One of my first memories is supping milky tea out of a saucer.

Ali: I just drink herbal tea.

Mar: Some people are alcoholics, but Mira is a teaoholic. She can’t have cake without tea.

Martin: So what’s your favorite tea in Great Britain?

Mira: My favourite tea in Great Britain is either PG Tips or Tetley. Yorkshire tea is good, but I grew up with PG and then my aunt did Tetley. But Yorkshire tea is nice because it’s a little bit stronger. But I also like Darjeeling or Ceylon tea. After a show, I normally go to the hotel with Martin, our booking agent, and I like to have a cup of tea, read and go to sleep. The other two are the party ones. I am a little bit of a nerd, I’m afraid. I used to have a boyfriend that went to trance clubs, and I’d want to take a sleeping bag, a flask of tea and sit in the chill-out room with a book and he put his foot down at that.

Rachel: Blur or Oasis?

Mar: Blur, Oasis, I say Blur. I had the most massive crush on Graham Coxon when I was 15.

Mira: I say both. But I’d still sleep with Alex James. He did a reality TV show in England about being a conductor, he was dreadful. Really shocking. Oasis was more university songs. I really loved those Britpop days, they were fucking amazing.

Martin: Steak or salad?

Mira: Steak

Mar: Salad

Abi: Vegetarian sausage.

Mar: I’m not a vegetarian but I only eat feathers and fins – chicken, turkey and fish.

Mira: That’s why we wrote, “Bad Vegetarian.” What do you think is the best thing about our band?

Rachel: I think you’re fun, which a lot of bands aren’t these days.

Mira: Yay! We’re totally trying to embrace that market. If people applause and if people are laughing, we’ve done a good job.

Abi: If people are shitting themselves, we’ve gone too far.

Rachel: How’s the reception been in Germany?

Mira: Hand on heart, it’s been amazing. Everyone comes to see us after the shows and we meet loads of people. Last night we met about 25 people who were instant friends and saying things like, “Bognor Regis.” Even if people’s reaction isn’t instant, after the show there’s this massive rush of warmth.

Rachel: I think the most important thing at a gig is to be entertained – otherwise, you might as well listen to the CD.

Mar: Absolutely. I mean we dress up, we do the dances. In London we always used to do theme nights – military for example. Every band I’ve ever been in has worn themed clothes. You’re in a band, you’re on stage, you have to put on a show.

And The Duloks certainly know how to put on a show – hot pants, knee high gym socks and songs about octopi, lighthouses and affairs with married men – The Duloks are definitely one of the most entertaining bands around.

Written by Rachel Preece & Martin Spenger

http://www.myspace.com/theduloks